Life Goes On
by Carmen4
Summary: Chapter FIVE FINALLY up! Sequel to Judgement. Gabby is given option to stay in Middle-Earth, or in the Mental Hospital she was in. What will she choose?
1. Mental Hospital, or MiddleEarth?

Author's Note: HEY! Welcome back to my story! This is a sequel to "Judgement" so if you haven't read that, go do it now because I'm too lazy to re-introduce my characters and other stuff.  
  
Life Goes On Chapter One  
It had been two years since the six friends had forgotten Gabby. Memories had slowly begun to filter into dreams and similar happenings from the day it happened to today. When Virginia had been adopted by the Bolgers, Diamond remembered a young elf sewing her wedding dress. When Virginia became Estella and married Meriadoc Brandybuck, they all remembered an elf falling asleep during the ceremony when Diamond got married. By now, they all remembered most unimportant things about her. They still didn't know her name.  
  
"Good morning to ya today Mrs. Brandybuck." Diamond commented.  
  
"And a lovely morning to you too, Mrs. Took." replied Estella. Both giggled and began to walk off towards the pond. Estella launched into a memory she had of water with the strange girl when she used the name that was forgotten, and with that name came the missing link.  
  
"Once I was swimming in a lake with Gabby when-" she cut herself off. "Oh my goodness! Diamond, her name was Gabby!" she stood up with Diamond and ran back into town, searching for Merry and Pippin as they went. The two women burst into the room where Merry and Pippin sat smoking their pipes, out of breath and wide-eyed.  
  
"Does the name 'Gabby' mean anything to either of you?" Diamond asked when her breath was caught. Merry and Pippin felt their breath stop moving as the name reached their ears.  
  
"It does. It's that elf's name, isn't it?" Pippin asked. Diamond and Estella nodded furiously. Merry hummed a low note and rubbed his chin thoughtfully.  
  
"Perhaps we should tell Legolas." he said. Pippin nodded and stood up, stretching his legs and arms. He cracked his neck and grinned, something "Gabby" had taught him. The four ventured to their rooms and packed their things. Soon they were saying goodbye to Samwise and his wife, Rosie. Diamond and Pippin left their child, Faramir, in Sam and Rosie's care. They left for Rivendell that evening, hoping to catch their dear friend, Legolas, before he left for Mirkwood.  
  
The road was long and treacherous as the four hobbits ventured forth, hellbent on asking Elrond about this absence of memory until now. They met no fate or danger on the way unless you want to count the many times Pippin tripped on anything that was big enough to trip a ladybug in the path. When they arrived in Rivendell they saw Legolas gearing up a horse and mounting. Merry and Pippin raced up to their elf friend, shouting Gabby's name. Legolas stopped dead in his tracks and leapt from his steed, glaring misty-eyed at his hobbit friends.  
  
"Gabriel." he said, his voice cracking. "Her full name was Gabriel." he looked up at Elrond and Galadriel who were smiling at him down on the ground from the tallest bedroom balcony. Galadriel motioned with her head for Legolas to bring his friends with him to her quarters. Legolas complied, not having to drag the curious hobbits into the room.  
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"Oh come on Colin, stop looking at me like that! I'm staying, not going to drift away again, I promise! Life goes on after these types of things!" Gabby cried exasperatedly at her older cousin, Colin. He shook his head and spoke in his unconcerned, monotonous voice.  
  
"Well, you know I am worried, I'm starting to forget about Virginia and that friend of yours, what's her name?" Colin asked. They had disappeared and some of her relatives had began to forget she'd even existed.  
  
"Lisa." Gabby said hotly. She was irritated by this, even Virginia's parents had been surprised when they found her birth certificate in their filing cabinet. Gabby felt like the parent, explaining that they once had two children, one had disappeared.   
  
"Right. Sorry but I can't help it if I forget!" he said coolly. Gabby snorted.  
  
"If I hadn't hid that book I'd drag you off there right now, you'd remember her if you saw her. She's married and happy." Gabby insisted. Colin rolled his eyes.  
  
"Okay, Gabby. Steve'll be in later. Act happy, for him." he begged. He kissed her forehead and left the small padded room.  
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"We have found Gabby's position, Legolas. She is unhappy, we could bring her here. The only problem is, your memories. She will not understand that you forgot, you must not become frusterated." Galadriel handed Legolas a fat book. "Read the fifty-first page twice. Say her name in the appropriate places and she will be here. Or so Elrond and I believe." she instructed. Legolas ran out to the very tree he remembered her disappearing under and sat down. They joined hands as Legolas spoke in a form of Elvish no one could identify.  
  
The mist he barely remembered filled the small area and engulfed him in a familiar scent. Gabriel's shady form was across the room in a chair, head down and gown of some kind drifting across the floor. The walls consisted of large, square pillows that were of pure white. He stood up and said her name. She looked up and frowned.  
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~One minute, local hero. Brought little Maureen back, then I tell what happened, and now I'm a looney. At least they still visit me.~ Gabby grumbled to herself. An odd smell filled her nose making it wrinkle in curiosity. She heard her name being called as if from a long distance. She looked up and saw Legolas and her friends in a circle watching her carefully. She frowned and shook her head furiously, trying to get rid of this odd hallucination. She let her jaw drop as Legolas walked into the room and held his hand out expectantly. She stood up and followed him into the mist that she had conjured up once before. Everything went black.  
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"It is her! I would know her face anywhere! It has haunted my dreams on many occasion." Legolas whispered urgently to Elrond as he checked her physical condition. He ran his hands curiously over her wrists. They were cut roughly across the veins as if with a crude tool. She had tried to kill herself, incredible as it sounded, an elf had tried to take her own life.  
  
"Legolas, I don't believe it was wise to take her from her facility quite so soon. She is unstable." he told Legolas worriedly. Legolas knitted his brow and shook his head.  
  
"She looks fine to me." he argued. Elrond pointed to her wrists.  
  
"If one was cut I would agree, but since both are cut in the same manner, I have to disagree." he insisted.  
  
"What does that mean?" Legolas asked, knowing the answer.  
  
"She tried to take her own life."  
  
"If she did, she did to ease her suffering!" Legolas shouted in her defense.  
  
"Easy there, boyo! You don't even remember anything about her quite yet, right?" Virginia asked, stepping into the room. Legolas was defeated.  
  
"Well no, but I remember I was close to her." he said softly. Virginia snorted.  
  
"If MY memory serves correctly, you two were in love. That doesn't give you a free ticket to keep a crazy girl on her feet with knives and things around." Virginia pointed out. "She wasn't always like this. I know that." she said reassuredly. Gabby groaned on the bed and sat up suddenly.  
  
"OH COME ON!" she cried to the hobbits and elves in the room. "Will someone throw me a frickin' bone here, huh? I mean all I want to do is live in my nice, warm, padded room for a while!" she hit the bed with a flurry of feathers. Evidently she had been beating the pillow on the bed with every syllable until it burst.  
  
"You weren't happy though." Diamond said, knowing that even a crazed person wants to be happy.  
  
"Whoop de doo. I was better off there." she said with a chuckle. "Now if you excuse me, I'm going back." she snatched the book out of Legolas's hands and stormed out to the forest. She stopped as the familar settings regained their positions in her head. The beauty of Rivendell was not forgotten, just pushed out of the way.  
  
"Wow." she muttered. Legolas walked in front of Gabby and looked her in the eye.  
  
"Your body is still there! You can go back and forth again. It will be fine." he tried desperately to stop her. If she was going to exist in the flesh, he was going to relearn everything he could about her.  
  
"Legolas, sweetie. I can't stay, there is something everyone is supposed to be doing, and I am not part of your life. Zip, nada, zero percent of your life. Not even supposed to be here. Virginia and Lisa are. They are now Estella and Diamond, right? That's who Merry and Pippin were supposed to marry. YOU are supposed to be having a wonderful time all over the world with Gimli." she explained. Breaking into song she explained more. "Don't waste your heart on me!" then she pushed past him and walking, flipping pages, she plopped down in the still misty area she had reappeared in.  
  
"What are you doing?" Diamond squealed.  
  
"Going home."  
  
"That's not home, Gabby! That's a Mental Hospital! You know you don't belong there." Estella whined. Gabby laughed and bared her wrists to her cousin.  
  
"You're right. I don't," Gabby said reasonably. "I just keep insisting to the unbelievers back there that I've been to Middle-Earth, then I try to kill myself with a butter-knife. I just made myself a permenent reservation at Moonwalk Hill Mental Hospital."  
  
"You don't belong there anymore. Your whole life you've wanted to see it for yourself! Wanted to live in Tolkien's imaginary world, and now you choose an Insane Assylum over your childhood dream?" Diamond argued.  
  
"Look, what do you want me here for? I'm just in the way!" Gabby countered.  
  
"We need you." Estella said.  
  
"Life goes on." Gabby said, but threw the book to the ground. 


	2. Plans to regain Memories

Author's Note: Thank you so much for sticking with me and for giving me some kewl ideas. Off to write now o_O that's what you're here for, right?  
Disclaimer: I do not own-oh sod it. I didn't want to do this. I didn't want to write all day just to realize I don't own a lick of it. I wanted to be...a lumberjack! L-  
Virginia: Stop it, right now.  
Carmen: Right, on with the story!  
  
Life Goes On Chapter Two  
Nothing seemed to have changed. Not a leaf out of place, not a tree or bend in the river missing, the Shire was unchangable. But people were as Gabby was soon to find out. Her family was bad enough back home but was Virginia forgetting things here too? It was like something had happened to make her forget that Gabby'd ever existed, just like her parents.  
  
"So, 'Estella,' when didya get married?" Gabby asked conversationally. Estella smiled and tried to read her cousin's expression of boredom.  
  
"July 14 of the fourth age." (A/N: I have no idea if that'll fit in with the time scheme, I'm winging it!) Estella replied. Gabby grunted and fingered the odd jewel on her neck. The Aarondiel stone she'd ventured to Gondor for before she'd left, Gabby thought of it as a rare piece of treasure, and not because it was precious money-wise, more because it linked her to her family, even Molly who had died in Middle-Earth. Pippin frowned and watched the awkward silence bestow upon the small room. Literally watched it happen as happy faces fell when Gabby stood up and paced the floor. Legolas just watched Gabby, never seeming to get tired of that simple task. She glared angrily at him as he watched.  
  
"What?" she snapped at him. Legolas just blinked and shrugged. She threw up her hands in disgust and continued her frantic pacing. She was muttering to herself avidly, obviously having an important argument with herself. Merry watched curiously as soon she sat down on the floor and rubbed her temples slowly and began to repeat the same thing over and and over again.  
  
"What does 'ce soir' and 'c'est le sens de la vie' mean?" Asked Legolas interestedly. Gabby giggled evilly.  
  
"Well, it appears I know something you don't!" she shot at him. He looked surprised and she was amazed he wasn't irritated she wouldn't tell him.  
  
"Of course you do." he said reasonably. Gabby's jaw dropped. Before, he had to know everything, or already know it.  
  
"It's French for something, I don't know what. I stole it from 'The Meaning of Life' song by Monty Python." she explained. Estella smiled and nodded.  
  
"I remember them, they were so funny! Didn't you get a job working for BBC on a show called 'Absurdity in it's Element' as a sort of remake of 'Monty Python's Flying Circus?'" asked Estella. Gabby nodded and shook her head.  
  
"You act like you just remembered that." Gabby said with an irrational grimace.  
  
"She did. Elrond removed our memories when you left so we wouldn't 'brood on the past.'" Diamond said. Gabby looked at Legolas demonically and smiled with small devil horns seeming to creep out of her long hair.  
  
"Oh, so we here don't remember our wonderful cousin and friend, Gabriel?" Gabby asked, as if making sure.  
  
"We didn't." Merry stated. Gabby looked at him and grinned.  
  
"Does 'Bank of Useless Knowledge' mean anything to your pointy ears?" she asked. Merry grinned right back at her and nodded.  
  
"Yes! I don't know where I heard it though." he trailed off with a hand on his chin. Gabby pointed to herself importantly.  
  
"Me. Moi. You heard it from me." she said in her best "I'm not going to gloat about anything though" voice. Needless to say, it didn't work very well, seeing as Estella burst into laughter and fought to speak.  
  
"You are so vain!" she managed to gasp out. Gabby feigned a flabbergasted look of anger.  
  
"Me? Vain? HA!" she yelled. "So, Elrond got rid of your memories. What can we do to regain them?"   
  
"I think we have to relive a past event again." Pippin said with a tone of uncertainty in his voice that Gabby had to wince.   
  
"That sounds rather difficult." she said. Pippin nodded but proceded to explain how it could be done.  
  
"Things such as just repeating the same sentences in the same order in the same place in the same situation." Gabby rolled her eyes.  
  
"Oh yes, Pippin, not hard at all!" Gabby said sarcastically. Pippin looked at her defensively.  
  
"It could be done. We don't have to all participate either, we just have to be where we were when it happened." he said. Gabby touched her wrists thoughtfully.  
  
"We could sing the National Anthem, that is if you remember it, Estella." Gabby suggested. Estella clapped her hands together.  
  
"Great idea, we were all there! It would be easy, they just watched while we sang, the seating arrangement and how they sat, right?" Estella said enthusiastically. Gabby nodded and stood up, continuing to wear a whole into the floor.  
  
"Only problem is finding the field it happened in." Gabby reminded her cousin. Estella blushed and shook her head.  
  
"I know where it is. So does Merry, we remember it well." she muttered. Merry looked at his feet and smiled devilishly.  
  
"Right then, let's get moving!" Gabby said happily. 


	3. What is he trying to do?

Author's Note: No one has reviewed in like, a day! I know I sound like a ditz but I just had sugar. Oh, for you Pippin and Diamond fans out there, go read Diamond of Long Cleeve right now! And Pippin's First Love. One's by me but the other isn't, it rocks! Gobbit hoblins! Don't ask...  
Life Goes On Chapter Four  
"Here?" Gabby asked, getting irritated. Merry shook his head and kept walking. Gabby shook her head and trudged after him, his bare feet turning black in the dirt.  
  
"Here?" asked Pippin. Merry turned around abruptly and glared.  
  
"NO." he said sternly. Pippin made a face and hoisted his pack onto his shoulder roughly.  
  
Merry and Estella seemed to know exactly where they were going, Gabby had no clue. She hadn't been there in over a year so she didn't remember the exact location like they did. Legolas was acting more like himself but not enough to convince Gabby to be herself as well. She closed herself off in a small, emotional ball and inhaled sharply as various people tried to crack the shell. Elrond had looked at Gabby with a knowing smile. "Shall I direct your relatives to a specific room as they appear?" he asked jokingly. Gabby smiled at the memory and shook her head. Merry stopped and smiled, their fire pit's remains barely there still. Rain and wind had washed most of it away but what still remained was the stone circle, roughly thrown together to surround the small area where their warmth had come from.  
  
"Here." Estella said firmly. Gabby flopped onto the ground and smiled. She'd been here when she'd sang, she remembered that much. The sun had been right about where it was right now, just between the mountain peaks, leaving long, eerie shadows over the ground for miles.  
  
"Hurry!" she hissed to them. They all assembled where it seemed best. Legolas was across the fire, watching curiously. Merry was sitting with his knees up to his chin next to Estella and Diamond and Pippin were curled up with little Faramir asleep between them. Gabby and Estella launched into song as the sun reached it's designated area. Half-way through the song Pippin's eyes rolled into his head and he blinked, remembering everything. Soon it was Legolas, Merry, Faramir, Diamond and even Estella. They all heard the National Anthem end on the baleful note of "brave." Legolas looked up solemnly at Gabby who was smiling at her cousin, who through a simple song had turned into Virginia again. Lisa let out a happy laugh and spoke quickly.  
  
"We've known each other forever! I don't know how anyone could make me forget that!" she cried. Wordlessly otherwise, they stood up and left again, for Rivendell and for home. Gabby didn't know what she planned to do when she got to Rivendell. She supposed she have to stay now that Legolas remembered what they once had. She felt his hand on her shoulder as she walked towards her family ahead. Holding up her index finger she sidestepped him and thumped Merry on the back.  
  
"Well. How's my cousin-in-law doing this fine evening?" she asked pleasantly. He looked at Estella and laughed.  
  
"I think I've just married myself into a crazy family." he said. Estella laughed and nodded.  
  
"More than you know too. Singing!" she shouted to her friends and family. They all joined into the song.  
  
"And I, want to thank you, for giving me the best day of my life." they ended together. Merry, Pippin and Faramir clapped like an enthusiastic audience.   
  
"I knew I should've gone to that 'Battle of the Bands' when I had the chance." muttered Gabby. "I would've gotten to see Dido live." Estella scoffed.  
  
"Sure you would've." she kidded. "Anyway, more singing!" she opened her mouth to sing anything that came to mind when Gabby hurled her pack at the girl and knocked her down.  
  
"I do believe you have fallen on your bum." giggled Diamond. Estella laughed sarcastically but pulled herself up onto one leg.  
  
"Very funny." she grumbled. Gabby flipped her hair snobbishly.  
  
"Course it was, I'm hilarious." she was tackled before she had a chance to say more. When both had the dust brushed off them Gabby dared to speak again.  
  
"I'm a jerk but ya gotta love me!" she said happily. Diamond and Estella looked at eachother disbelievingly.  
  
"GET HER!" came Diamond's cry. They chased her until the sun had sunk below the mountain's peaks and even Gabby showed some signs of being tired.   
  
"I'm getting a drink." she shouted over her shoulder as she galloped to a nearby river. Lowering her face to the water's edge she saw a familiar face reflecting back at her. "Hello, Legolas." she said to the elf. He smiled and sat down next to her gingerly. She straightened up and sighed. He ran his fingers through her hair longingly as she sat, in his company, enjoying life for the first time in a year. He watched her sit, her posture becoming better as he worshipped her hair and back. She was his again.  
  
Long, red hair. She hadn't cut it for nearly six years now, it neared her knees and was impossible to do anything with. The sheer straight red sheen in the daytime was excruciating to look at, but he could see the waves of when she'd braided it to keep it out of her face at night. He saw years on her face, not in form of wrinkles, but she was gaining that sad look about her that all elves have. She looked over her shoulder into his blue eyes to see him watching her simply exist. She let her smile come but it didn't stay long, too many internal battles going on. Her eyes changed quickly from her placid green to that dark and mysterious blue he despised. When her eyes gained that depth, she was irritable and quiet. Such a lovely color nonetheless. Brown was the only color they lacked to show. Brown was sheer contentment. Lately had only been seen when caught playing guitar and singing by herself, until you were discovered. Dead blue, placid green, happy brown. She was simply a giant mood ring for all to figure out. Women could be so irritating in that way.  
  
But she was his, to love and worship. He was hers, to love and worship. But there was unsettling feelings in her gut. He was thinking too hard, he was too nervous. The lump in his throat was affecting his breathing. Just what was he plannin on doing. Gabby gasped. He couldn't do that! It would change the history of the books! Legolas cleared his throat and began to speak. 


	4. A tiara

Author's Note: Thanks silent wanderer! I forgot about Ryann! She went home with Gabby and Momo and is still there. Also, she was a jerk and didn't back-up Gabby when she was telling everyone about Middle-Earth. That's why she was thrown into the Mental Hospital. Okay, all caught up? Good.  
Life Goes On Chapter Four  
"Um, Gabby..." Legolas began. She felt him considering the consequences if he followed through with whatever he was trying to do. She picked up a bag to her left that Elrond had kept for her. She flipped the pages rather quickly to the very end of the fat book. Legolas didn't notice her frenzied search. She found an extra family tree.  
Gabriel of the Golden Wood----------------------------Legolas of Mirkwood  
  
TaralotNoradrielThranduil II FaramirAragornTaralotion  
She gaped open mouthed as the words shone softly on the page. More names were added to the list of children as she watched. She felt her cheeks turn deep red as she read her own mini-biography.  
  
"Gabriel of the Golden Wood: After the War of the Ring, Legolas, Prince of Mirkwood proposed to her, insisting she be adopted. She had come from no accountable Elven family in Middle-Earth. As friends would say, their nine children were some of the best archers and swimmers in Mirkwood."  
  
Brief and to the point. She continued to gape at the paper. Legolas reached around her, without looking at the book, closed it and pulled her face close to his.  
  
"Gabriel, you must be adopted. We must make this proper." he whispered and slipped a beautiful golden ring encrusted with rare jewels on her shaking finger. She looked into his eyes and blinked. There it was, brown. Her eyes were brown, that lovely color of bliss. He smiled and looked into the large spheres that kept closing and opening, tears falling each time. She leaned forward and kissed his lips longingly. She felt her heart pound as he took her in his arms and held her. Needless to say, she didn't even have to answer, he didn't ask a question. She sat up and wiped a tear from her cheek and grinned.  
  
"I'm thinking Galadriel might want a kid. What do you think?" she asked. He smiled and picked her up without a single grunt and carried her over to the fire where all the others had gathered as the sun set. They didn't earn a single funny look, it was simply accepted that Legolas carried her to the fire. When Merry did dare to cock an eyebrow at her, Gabby grabbed Legolas's face and kissed him again, flashing her ring in his general direction. When her view cleared Merry was on his side, mouth wide open, smiling, and laughing.  
  
"What's so funny, honey?" Estella asked sleepily. Merry pointed a finger at Gabby and continued to stare. Gabby glared at Merry from Legolas's lap and snuggled into his tunic. Estella looked at Gabby and grunted. "Nothing special you know." she said. He snatched her hand up and pushed it into Estella's face.  
  
"See?" he asked impatiently. Estella's face split into a grin.  
  
"HOLY CRAP!" she crowed and leapt to her feet, growing into her elf form. She yanked Gabby to her feet, out of Legolas's protective hug. As if on cue they began to laugh.  
  
It was like a romance movie, silly little looks through any second they weren't making out. Not to mention the silly little looks she received from Estella and Diamond. Gabby looked up into the sky and sighed sadly once. Her eyes dulled into blue and Legolas felt his smile fall off his face with a splat.  
  
Molly was dead and gone in both worlds. No chance to live her life anywhere. ~Unless of course she reappears in the wonderful world of Harry Potter.~ Gabby muttered to herself. Legolas watched as she looked at the horizon weakly. She caught his glance and smiled, the brown flooding into her eyes. It was enough to make his face break open into a smile as well.  
  
Nine kids was a lot, and it was not like it didn't stop there, she could change that if she wanted. She blushed as her thoughts plowed on in her head. Legolas reached out gently and took her hand. She squeezed it thankfully and smiled. She knew he'd be a great dad, Maureen had proved that. She had been told over and over again that she would make a great mother and she knew she would, no question about it. She smiled again and looked at Legolas curiously. He wagged his eyebrows at her and grinned. She laughed and flicked his nose. He grabbed her hand and pinned it behind her. She grunted and wrenched her arm, watching him fly in the air in front of her. She almost let out a victory cry when he yanked her down next to him. Gabby sat on his chest and tried to act dignified but he flipped on top of her and bared his teeth jokingly. Gabriel snarled and squirmed under his half-nelson. He laughed and helped her to her feet. Legolas brushed himself off and then turned to her, winking suggestively. She blushed again and began brushing herself off briskly. Pippin blinked and looked at the two brush themselves off. Why did they wrestle? When Gabby had described dating where she was from to him, it had utterly confused he and Merry. Come to think of it, Legolas had asked a few questions too.   
  
(A/N: Legolas's POV)  
  
She was looking at me in that way again, like she knows something I do not. That book she had been reading, did that hold the key? I wonder about Gimli and my promise to visit the Glittering Caves with him. Gabby had said before that I was supposed to be with him, but things change. I wondered what she meant by that when she had looked at her bag and smiled. Her blush is so lovely, I almost find myself doing strange things to make that color surface on her face. That brown color has returned to her eyes, I am pleased with myself and cannot wait until the adoption and marraige at Mirkwood. I can only hope that father will not dislike her because of her lack of natural family.   
  
(A/N: Okay, normal again!)  
  
When arriving in Rivendell, Galadriel had welcomed them all back warmly. The hobbits watched curiously as Legolas and Gabby cornered her in a room and asked her a few questions. For the next few days, those three had smiles that couldn't be wiped off their faces with death and hatred. Elrond even had a happy smile for awhile after their confrontation with the lady Galadriel. No one could help not smiling as they watched Gabby and Legolas sit and enjoy eachother's company. If there was but one person Gabby wanted to see now, it was her mother. Her mother was one of the smartest people she knew when it came to weddings. She had been to about thirty of them and still had her own wedding dress in her closet. True, while Gabby had been all over the country she hadn't really talked to her mother, she finally caught up to her when she was submitted to the mental hospital. She shook that ugly thought from her head and clutched her wrists tightly. The scars were stiff and red like they were going to forever be open wounds.   
  
The journey to Mirkwood started once again, with a little bit more of a bang. Legolas leapt onto Gabby's horse with a long strand of rope and bound her to him. She tought it was funny at first, then it was just an excuse to be close. She fell asleep on the horse every night, never stopping. Their precious cargo, the adoption papers and wedding proclaimations. They were going to set the wedding then send the invitations. The only other people they were going to be seeing over the next few days were the tailors and caterers it seemed. Gabby wondered to herself if elves had caterers. She snorted and fell back asleep. Their arrival three days later was nothing short of amazing.   
  
Dozens of Mirkwood dwellers and soldiers stormed out of the forest and greeted the prince. He introduced Gabby as the one he had been trying to bring for quite a while. When the laughing and joking was done, he led her deep into the forest were even more elves joined their mini-brigade. She glanced worriedly at Legolas, had he purposely left out the fact that she was his fiancee? As if on cue, Haldir leapt from a tree branch and landed in front of their horse. He raised an eyebrow and smiled at the couple. She winked at Haldir from her perch and smiled again as if to say, "You're hired." She just hoped he'd make a better baby-sitter this time around.   
  
Here came the biggest nerve-wracking moment of her life. This was worse than walking up on stage at a playhouse during open-mic night to do impressions because Lisa had signed her up without telling her. Stand-up comedy wasn't her best form of humor, but she did okay. When she finished off with her Irish accent and an elaborate Riverdance off the stage and had a few phone-numbers stuffed into her hands, she had been shaking like a leaf on a tree. Now, she could barely hear herself think. This was the KING OF MIRKWOOD, not some guy who owns the local toyshop. She cleared her throat and bowed. Legolas sighed relievedly as she did so, not bowing was the worst thing she could do at this point. Her clothes weren't the cleanest but she didn't feel self-conscious about that at all.  
  
"Your highness. I am Gabriel of the Golden Wood." she began. Thranduil looked at his son, impressed. Legolas grinned and stepped in for her.  
  
"This is the one I wish to marry father." he said suggestively. Thranduil smiled and nodded. Legolas beamed at Gabby who looked up at the Elven King, amazed.  
  
"I shall make the arrangements. Only a few questions; what date and who's coming?" he asked. Gabby didn't care how terrible it looked, she launched herself into her soon to be father-in-law's arms and hugged him. He hugged her back and laughed.  
  
"Thank you!" she cried in the King's ear. He smiled and pulled her out of his arms.  
  
"I trust my son's judgement. You must be the one" he said warmly. Gabby wiped a tear from her eye and hugged the king once more before leaving to be fitted in a wedding dress.  
  
Weddings weren't exactly the same in Middle-Earth. You did wear a white dress, but there was no way in hell that Legolas was going to wear a tux. She laughed at this picture in her head and noticed the frenzied tailors bumping into eachother in hallways and scurrying about like ants. A few maids came in and helped her try on her dress. The dress seemed to mold to her body as she felt them tie intricate criss-crossing strings in the back. Sequins of what seemed to be the stars and moon themselves sparkled on her front and back. She smiled at her reflection as the maids placed the veil on her head and placed her hair about her face. They pulled it back in true Elven manner, the top half back, the bottom down her front and back. The hair in front of her ears, not tucked back. She self-consciously allowed them to finger her tag. Those damn scientists had tagged her ear to test it for radiation mutations. She hadn't figured out how to wrench it off without ruining her ear so she left it on. She had memorized the number code and said it to herself when she was nervous or scared. She said it now as she admired herself in the mirror and the maids matched her eyes and hair to a bouqet that would suit the new princess.  
  
"Four, six, one, three, six, one, nine, five, five, nine, eight, two." she repeated it over and over again until the maids touched her tag gingerly.  
  
"We could remove it, Lady Gabriel." one suggested. The young blonde smiled at her and let her ear go. Gabby nodded.  
  
"Go ahead. Can't be a lab rat, now can I?" she asked them. Both were utterly confused by this comment but simply agreed that she could not be a lab rat.  
  
They pulled at certain points of her ear and the tag before it finally broke and fell into the waiting maids hands. She asked if Gabby wanted to keep it. Gabby nodded and took it from her, throwing it on the ground and saying a fire spell. The tag burst into flames and melted into a puddle of hot goo. The maids looked at the tag fearfully and then continued to primp her dress until she felt like a princess. In truth, she was going to be a princess. Shortly after the maids left her to get out of the dress herself, Legolas knocked on the door. She opened it and did a full turnaround. He looked at her and smiled at her excitement. He reached out and lifted the veil off her face. She grinned devilishly at him and stepped back.  
  
"So, what do you think?" she asked, showing off her curves and feminimity. He smiled and took her into his arms.  
  
"Wonderful. You always look wonderful, but there is one thing missing." he said. She frowned and looked into his eyes confusedly. Those brown spheres flickered some green but not a trace of blue.   
  
"What in the hell could be missing?" she cried out to her room and Legolas. He pulled a small tiara from his tunic pocket and looked at the engravement on the front. The crest of Mirkwood emblazened on burned wood with small emeralds circling the leaves. She gasped as he placed it on her head, over the veil. It nestled there perfectly. She turned to the mirror and smiled.  
  
"It was my mother's, my father would like you to wear it." he explained. Gabby nodded, trying to hold back her tears.  
  
"As he wishes." she said softly. Estella and Diamond burst into the room, giggling madly. Both their mouths dropped open at the sight of her. Reasons; a) she was in a dress. b)she was crying. c) she was in a wedding dress. d) she was wearing a tiara of some kind. Estella looked at her hobbit feet and grinned. She wasn't royalty, but she was in love herself.  
  
"Gab, you look wonderful!" Diamond sputtered and walked around her. Legolas threw a look at Gabby as he left. She smiled and turned to them, laughing.  
  
"I'm a princess guys! I completely forgot about that! Boy, at least I'm not a gold-digger huh?" she asked. They all laughed at her last question and looked at eachother.  
  
"Well, he is over two-thousand years old. And you're twenty-one." Estella pointed out. Gabby rapped her upside the head and glared.  
  
"He asked me. He knew what he was getting into marrying a crazy person." she objected. They all snickered softly as she fiddled with a sequin on her dress. It was warm and smooth, like glass. Like the starlight they keep in bottles. She gasped and called to a maid she recognized.  
  
"Taralotien! Goodness, where was this dress made?" she asked urgently. Taralotien smiled and looked at her wide eyes.  
  
"It was the Lady Galadriel's wedding dress. She granted it to you for your wedding." the girl explained. Gabby's eyes flickered into her head and she passed out into Taralotien's arms.  
  
She awoke with a start in her padded room in Moonwalk Hills Mental Hospital. She hit the wall angrily and fingered her tag. It wasn't there! She cheered wildly and kicked the wall where she knew the door was. Moments later someone burst in, hitting her quite hard, that's what she wanted. She was knocked out again, this time to wake up in Middle-Earth.  
  
Estella shook Gabby lightly, her eyes fluttering. Then they snapped open and Gabby looked around wildly. She begged Diamond to pull that one string to untie her dress. Diamond pulled in and Gabby leapt out of the dress and into her old clothes, searching for her mother. Her new mother, her only mother, she hadn't had one before. She never had a mother, just a drug-addicted potatoe farmer. She found Galadriel in the courtyard, talking to Thranduil. Gabby curtsied clumsily to the King and pulled on her mother's hand. Galadriel looked apologetically at Thranduil and followed her daughter out to a secluded area. Gabby's words spilled over one another until she told her she loved her dress and Legolas gave her a wonderful tiara and soon she was crying again, her mother smiling and hugging her softly.  
  
"There there, Gabriel. The wedding is tomorrow, don't fret! This will all be over soon, and you'll be his forever." her mother consoled. Gabby let out a shaking breath and freed her mother from her death-grip.  
  
"Thank you Mother." she said politely. Galadriel smiled and bowed slightly.  
  
"Which reminds me, we must teach you Elven etiquette for the wedding tomorrow." Galadriel commented lightly. Gabby felt a sense of dread fill her. Did they never run out of challenges here? 


	5. The Ceremony

Author's Note: Okay silent wanderer, you win a cookie since you review! And a free Pippin plushie! WHOO!  
  
Life Goes On Chapter Five  
  
Gabby walked back to her room, reliving the first time she'd woken up in Rivendell. She felt a sort of bond between her and this world. She didn't want to leave! Ugh, she should just kill herself back home, she was disgracing the family name. She needed to be cheered up, and fast. Spying Merry and Pippin over in a riviera playin cards, she joined them silently.  
  
"No! You don't play all of them at the same time Merry! You put them down one at a time and add them up!" Pippin cried. Merry threw down his cards angrily.  
  
"We don't know what we're doing, face it!" he cried. Gabby smiled and stepped into the light.  
  
"Here, let me help. What're you playing?" she asked. Pippin looked thankful and gathered the cards.  
  
"Crazy eights." he answered. Gabby smiled, one of Molly's teachings no doubt. She shuffled the deck expertly and dealt out the cards.  
  
"Okay, first you deal eight cards. Then you flip the top one over on the draw pile. Now you either have to lay another four or a heart of any kind." she said, eyeing the four of hearts that she flipped over. Pippin carefully placed a two of hearts on top of it. She smiled. "That's right, okay Merry, you go. Oh, and if you can't do anything and there's an eight in your hand, play it and say the suit you have the most of, that usually works. First one out of cards wins." she finished. Merry looked at his hand nervously.  
  
"What if you don't have any twos, hearts, or eights?" he asked. She smiled.  
  
"Draw one card from the pile until you receive a card you can play." she said. Merry looked at her funny and then at Pippin. They both looked back at Gabby and just kind of watched her. Then Merry put his cards down and just hugged her. Pippin walked around the table and hugged her too. She smiled and wrapped her arms around the two hobbits. Just one minute of that and her heart was lighter than it had been in weeks.  
  
The day had come. She was helped into her dress by her cousin Estella and Diamond. Estella grew to elf's form and was her Maid of Honor. When she was all done up in her dress, Diamond placed the Tiara on her head and the bouqet in her arms. All was ready for the big moment. The tears didn't come and she was terrified. She stepped out of her curtain and let the court look at her. Every face on her elegant form, she started down the aisle and tried not to cry her eyes out. Legolas was at the end of the aisle, a smile on his face and a look of pure amazement from his best man, Gimli. Gimli elbowed his friend and whispered in his ear.  
  
"Where on Middle-Earth do you find an elf like that?" he asked. Legolas smiled and mouthed "Back off." Gimli smiled and took a step back.  
  
Gabby continued her steady pace down the aisle, a wink from mom, a blink or two from the King, and a huge grin on every single hobbits face. She smiled back at them and stopped in front of Legolas, her instincts making her leg twitch. She wanted to run and sit down, watch not participate. She wanted to participate, not watch! It was all so confusing! The words drifted around her, she said "I do." he said "I do." now was the part she really looked forward to! She kissed him and pulled back, smiling. He looked into her eyes. Brown and green. He almost frowned then he realized they'd stopped changing and swirling, they had found rest. He reached up and touched her cheeks softly, wiping the tears away. He looked at her in a way that almost made her want to cry again. He was looking through her, to her soul. It might have sounded corny but for a minute, Legolas saw her soul leap out of it's cage and into the world for the first time since Chris. He smiled and took her hand. She smiled and buried her face in his dress-tunic and allowed him to dance with her on the floor before all the guests. She almost kicked Diamond in the shins as she crowed from her corner with Estella.  
  
"Awwww!" they cried. Legolas grinned at them as Gabby glared. She was concentrating too hard on the etiquette she'd learned the night before with the help of Merry and Frodo. Galadriel had come in later to teach her table etiquette but Frodo and Merry had taught her the dancing. She felt like an idiot, a hobbit dancing with Frodo on the floor of his room, listening to Merry count the song's time out loud. She stepped on her own feet more than Frodo's but by the end of the night she'd mastered the dance. Now was the biggest test of her life.  
  
He led her around the floor lazily. God he smelled good! She felt her head swoon as he pressed his hand into hers and his head on her shoulder as they swung around the dancefloor. She was a princess. Real sorrow only struck her when she realized this was forever, and Diamond was not. Estella was going to have to live her entire life knowing Merry was going to leave her. It must be terrible to love a mortal. Gabby clutched Legolas closer and looked at Estella dancing with Merry, Diamond and Pippin on the sidelines, just playing with Faramir and watching. Legolas led her over to the royalty table where her table etiquette was being scrutinized.   
  
"Fork farthest from right, use most of the night." she repeated as she lifted the utensil. Legolas smiled and watched her eat some of the feast timidly. He hoped she wasn't timid tonight, oh he had plans. 


End file.
